COVID-19. In the blink of an eye the virus has transformed us from little bees buzzing around metro colonies into overeating holed up moles!
The phrase “self-quarantine” has taken over and become part of our daily conversation. A funny thing has happened though; the more we’ve isolated ourselves the closer we’ve gotten. We haven’t spent this much meaningful time with one another since when the Pyramids were constructed between 2585 and 2504 BC.
I’m beginning to lose my marbles. How about you?
Social Media, in all its various forms, has gone from making herds of hominids feel envious and insecure, to fulfilling our emotional needs by joining together the otherwise disjointed. Clapton was right – it’s in the way that you use it. The android who runs Facebook is electroshocking himself for purchasing every tech startup under the sun except Zoom. Although he has the next best thing… all the data they collect. In typical ‘ask for forgiveness and not permission’ digital snooping, it was discovered (to nobody’s surprise) Zooms’ privacy policy doesn’t disclose that its app shares information with Facebook and other (aka “any”) third parties willing to pay for it. I’ve been compiling a compendium of usernames and passwords the likes of which humankind has never seen, as downloads of connection, classroom and collaboration apps pile on to my every family device, opting into God knows what more information sharing under the guise of “showing more relevant ads” than I care to know about. Just as we were beginning to wake up to the abuses taking place by the invisible data vampires, we find ourselves in a situation where, if we thought we didn’t have a choice before, we absolutely don’t have one now. Suck away Drac, I need to join that virtual Happy Hour! Chances are if you’re at one (or is it ‘in’ one?) you’ve had Corona in your system… sales of the beer are up 50%, most likely because of its fateful ability to make for an apropos prop.
As a dad and broadcast executive, right about now I have that feeling I get when I pat one of my daughters on the back while the other one looks up as if to say, “what about me?”. Without TV and Radio, my guess is we’d be too panicked and ill-informed for the newfound soothing functionality of Social to work very well. As legacy media plays the role of first informer, it is doing the essential job of keeping us educated, healthy and safe; a critical companion providing an accurate view of the world beyond our living room window. Broadcasters have also donated more than $42 Million worth of airtime, according to the NAB, “to air a series of COVID-19 public service announcements from PSAs on social distancing to supporting distance learning with educational programming”. iHeart Media along with CBS for example, “partnered with the Los Angeles Chargers to raise over $1.6 million for a fund to help students and families impacted by the coronavirus, donating protective personal equipment and medical supplies to various hospitals, meals to staff at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles, supporting food drives in various cities, and providing information to Dallas viewers on open job opportunities”.
Together, the stability that mass media provides along with the deeper bonding afforded by social media are gracefully, keeping us civil and sane.
Media and tech are functioning other ways:
On the one hand, it helps philanthropic CEO’s afford nice options. Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey pledged to devote $1 billion of his stake in Square, the payments firm he co-founded, to help fund the coronavirus relief effort. Amazon’s Jeff Bezos is donating $100 million to Feeding America. Michael and Susan Dell have committed another $100 million to global relief efforts and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has pledged a similar amount to help develop a vaccine.
Amazing and Inspirational are understatements.
On the other, as a lens for viewing celebrity’s with new optics. Britney Spears was “nominated by her sister” to buy some groceries with her $250 Million fortune. Gal Gadot sparked savage reactions to a star-studded rendition of “Imagine”, an odd choice with an uninspired delivery. Madonna spins and stumbles in her bathroom as she sings her new rendition of Vouge, “Fried Fish”, through motionless lips. Lyrically riveting for all the wrong reasons, we come to learn that the world shortage of pasta is the motive for this masterpiece. Robert De Niro called COVID-19 “this Fu*kin Virus” and threatened that “he’d be watching us” lest we refuse his order to stay home. Take it easy tough guy!! Amy Schumer went up with some parenting hacks, specifically, how to make a playpen out of a cardboard box. “Make sure there are no staples in it”, she warns. What about glue or nails, are those OK?
Clueless and Ridiculous are understatements.
A very wise and considerate man once said, change is always good and many times when it happens, it may not appear that way, but usually it is. I realize that’s nothing a lot of people who are suffering want to hear right now. Abstractly though, inferences we can try to draw beyond the pale of this disaster are not only interesting, but give us a brief respite someplace in a time when this is all behind us. As we’ve seen with Social Media, there are so many other things right under our noses ripe for evolution and transformation.
-This pandemic will have accelerated the adoption of things like Telemedicine by 10 years (and the fist bump in place of the handshake by 20). The US government expanded telehealth consultations to nearly 62 million Medicare beneficiaries, making it easier for them to speak with healthcare providers, get treatment and fill prescriptions via phone or videoconference. Interest in asynchronous healthcare (a form of telemedicine where doctors co-opt the patient) is exploding. The One Drop health management platform for example, markets a direct-to-consumer blood sugar monitoring device (wearable) and digital platform (app) that lets users (patients) measure their glucose levels. No privacy concerns here folks, move along.
-Automobile companies will be prepared to transform into ventilator manufacturers when needed.
-Just when you thought you wanted to hang the MY Pillow guy with a noose made from Giza Dream Sheets… he starts cranking out face masks! Together with other cotton garment makers, there’ll be no shortage next time we’re in a pinch.
-Booze makers are no longer just good for killing brain cells but can be just as effective at killing germs as they manufacture hand sanitizer.
-Instacart. Amazon Fresh. Shipt. Prime Now….don’t think I’ll ever see the inside of a grocery store again. Just don’t forget the mushrooms next time. I have a Ragu to make!! In a CivicScience poll of U.S. adults and their digital grocery shopping habits, the percentage of those who said they increased their online grocery shopping jumped from 11% to 37% from March 1-22.
-I will be armed with a new set of email skills which can be deployed during the next crisis because of all the many invites I’ve gotten to Webinars like “Email Tips for Sensitive Times”, “Building A Super-Bond with Audiences During the Pandemic” and “Artfully and Articulately Leverage the Crisis – 7 Push Marketing Tactics”. No, that last one is not real, but I’m just waiting for it to pop into my inbox!
-With record setting speed, biotech’s, academia, military researchers, and major pharmaceutical companies have learned to collaborate and fast track vaccines that would otherwise take years to develop.
-Get ready for so many drones that they look like locusts in the swarming phase. Delivery drones, Medical drones, Emergency Service drones and the rest are coming to a sky near you. Use and support are on the rise as it becomes clear they are better suited than expensive and vulnerable people. “Amazon, UPS, Alphabet, Domino’s and Walmart are already testing drones to help cut last-mile delivery costs for retail items, medicines and fast food. Gartner anticipates that 24.9 thousand drones will ship worldwide this year (pre-outbreak figures)”.
Then there will be a time when social distancing memes are cultural artifacts of a bygone era where we needed to cope by poking fun at that which threatened our very existence. At last we will come to appreciate the simple things once taken for granted or otherwise completely forgotten.
-We go for walks now. I literally had no idea what my broader neighborhood looked like until this past weekend! Everyone waves and exchanges pleasantries. I hope we carry on with this peaceful, community coagulating, quality family time ritual.
-I’m sure fellow commuters will agree, it was the low point of the day. But I’m looking forward to it. It probably won’t take long until I relearn to despise the contact sport called ‘getting home’ but at least I’ll revel in the anticipation of having the kids try to tackle me when I get in the door.
-My office; my home away from home. My co-workers; my second family. I MISS YOU!
-I love baseball but never was one to get very jazzed about Opening Day… probably because living in NY means baseball in 40 degrees. BUT this opening day, I’m gonna sit my fat keister in the sun with a cold beer and a hot dog. Hell, I might even have 2 Beers!
-SPORTS; OMG do we need sports again. I’m more psyched for the NFL Draft than I have been for any Super Bowl. This year, the draft will benefit 6 charities that are battling the spread of COVID-19, as it morphs into a three-day virtual fundraiser. “As we face this global health crisis together, we are filled with gratitude for the extraordinary work of first responders, healthcare workers and many others who are helping those in need,” said NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell.
-Speaking of front liners, let’s keep them at ‘Hero’ status long after this is over. OK?
-Maybe, just maybe, we’ll save more and consume less.
– We’ll be more caring, concerned and considerate. “We’re all in this together” has become as famous a refrain as “the answer is blowin’ in the wind” (and just as vague yet optimistic). Maybe “stay safe” will replace “see ya later” (any STNG fan will recall the peaceful residents of the planet Kataan using the parting wish “go easy”).
Lastly, I’d like to say Thank You to all the nice Brands concerned about my wellbeing. Honda, American Express, BOA, Lyft, Apple, Jet Blue, Dollar Shave Club… they’re all “here for me amid my coronavirus concerns”. Their teams “understand the uncertainty caused by Covid-19 and are therefore providing maximum flexibility”. It’s no secret that purchase decisions are rooted in emotion. Emotions are running high right now and those companies who identify the emotional aspects of their consumers within the context of their current situation will be rewarded with long term loyalty and sales. I’m not so sure that matters much for those firms floundering in the gig economy, for Quarantine is to the gig economy as kryptonite is to Superman (or Social Media is to Wonder Woman). Uber for example in pre-pandemic times lost money on every ride, which added up to a $8.5 Billion bath last year. Social distancing has caused a 70% decrease in rides. From a labor rights standpoint, simply connecting gig worker with consumer will no longer cut it. From a business standpoint, the growth at all costs model only works if the arrow points up forever…
…which if we didn’t know before, we sure as sh*t know now, it doesn’t.
Stay Safe!!
MBD
